


Nests

by HotDogandFries (DerpyMcButtface)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, background McHanzo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 04:59:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11798913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DerpyMcButtface/pseuds/HotDogandFries
Summary: Genji wants children. Angela doesn't.





	Nests

He'd known early on. It was an offhand remark Angela had made once, long before Geneva had fallen, before the silver and green update to his armor had even been fabricated. They were in the break room on Blackwatch facilities, eating lunch and watching the news on TV scroll over famine, civil war, corruption.

"A lot going on," Genji remarked offhandedly to his friend, as a reporter touched ground in a warzone.

And Angela had agreed. "Yes. This is why people need to stop having children. What kind of selfish person brings a child into this place?"

He'd agreed too, not giving it much thought back then.

* * *

 

Genji was no stranger to the laboratories or exam rooms, but this was his first time in an actual walk-in clinic. The waiting room was stuffed to the corners with families, mothers and fathers coralling children, old people flipping through the ancient magazines, and noise- a lot of noise.

"Genji! Thank you so much for coming! Back here," Angela called out over the din, motioning to the Staff Only door. Tripping over a four-year-old, Genji obeyed, making his way over quickly.

"Whoa," he said simply, once in the quiet of the hallways. He followed her like a leaf swept down a river, as she strode confidently through the maze of walls and rooms.

"This is a normal level of activity for the free clinic," Angela chuckled. "It's... A circus. That's why I'm so glad you're here, my medical student disappeared and I'm short some staff- thank you so much!"

"It is no problem, Dr. Ziegler," he said fondly. "Just tell me what to do."

"I've got a six-year-old with hearing loss," she rattled off. "No medical records, his mother says he's always been healthy except for some ear infections, so I am concerned. Come in with me and take the vitals while I talk to the mother," she ordered, and Genji tried to stomp down the burst of admiration for her efficiency.

"I can do that. Easy," he said, following her in.

He should have known he'd jinxed himself. The blood pressure cuff kept slipping, and when he'd finally smashed the velcro sides together, the little boy would not stop moving.

"No, keep your arm still, no," Genji coaxed. "Stop- ah!" Only his cybernetic reflexes stopped the blood pressure monitor from toppling over as the kid gave the tubes a firm tug. But Angela reached past him, still asking the mother about any past pregnancy complications, and wrapped the cuff around in one smooth motion. "Eugie," she said cheerfully. "Your mommy says you're doing great in school! Who are your friends? Can you tell me all their names," she cajoled, and flicked the blood pressure monitor to 'Record' as Eugie went still in favor on concentrating hard on his recitation.

After the visit, as they left the room, Genji murmured quietly, "You are good with children."

"Yes, I've learned," Angela replied. "They can be difficult, but..."

"But it's worth it?" Genji ventured

Angela shook her head. "No, they can be difficult, but they are still my patients," she replied. "And I am a doctor."

* * *

  
"-And the UN wants all the immigration physicals done in two days!" Angela exclaimed as she bustled by, giving Genji a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing her clipboard and bustling right out again.

Genji peered after her, chuckling. His girlfriend was really a force of nature- if anyone could get three days' worth of work expediated to two, it was Angela Ziegler- with all his help, of course. He tapped away at the keyboard, entering in numbers from stacks of paper forms.

It was barely five minutes before Angela burst in the work room again, this time with a toddler on her hip. "Someone needs to refill the supplies in Room 4," she said, setting her patient down on a spare table surface and pulling out some gauze from the cabinet below.

Genji looked over at the child. "Hello!" he said cheerfully.

"Omnic," the little girl stated nervously.

"No- well, yes. I'm a friend," he continued, lighting up some of his LEDs- children generally loved the flashing lights.

The girl flinched away and burst into tears.

"Oh, stop crying- Genji, she thinks you're an omnic," Angela raised her voice over the child's wailing.

"Ah- I am a friend-" Genji protested, trying to sound as kind as possible. "I will not hurt you!"

"She doesn't understand English! Just- let me take care of this, Genji," Angela said brusquely, rocking the child hurriedly until she quieted down.

Genji stayed silent as Angela wiped off the girl's cuts with saline. He looked away deliberately, concentrating hard on the paperwork and the numbers in front of him. He only spoke again when he had a paperwork question. "Do we need a parent to sign off on these?" Genji asked, filling out the forms with an eye on the computer.

Angela shook her head. "No, all the children in that pile are wards of the state. They'll be transferred to the foster facilities in a few months."

Genji looked at the little girl in her arms- small for her age, her dark skin already patterned with burns and scars. She was frightened- of him, yes, but still frightened, still just a little one. "Are the facilities good?" he asked quietly.

"Good enough. They are up to standard," she replied, as the child looked around the room nervously.

"....Are they as good as on base?" Genji insisted.

Angela shook her head. "No. But they're acceptable. Oh, Genji, we can't take everyone we find!" she chided gently. "You're just like Reyes. You know, this is why Reyes was never in charge of humanitarian work," Angela joked. "He'd be too tempted to adopt everyone, turn Blackwatch into a youth home!"

"And you never thought of it yourself, Dr. Ziegler?" he asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

"Not really." She tickled the little girl with one hand and swabbed some antibiotic ointment over a grazed knee with the other. "I suppose it just isn't my thing."

* * *

 

When he held Yoko for the first time, he knew he couldn't let her go.

She was almost a month old, impossibly small, with her soft plump limbs and soft squishy belly, and just- so soft, and he fell in love in seconds.

"Ohayo," he said, flipping his faceplate up to really see her- not through the augmented view of his visor, but eye to eye. She was an active, happy baby, busy blowing spit buibbles and looking at everything with those big brown eyes. The newest member of the Shimada clan was a sweet little thing. Her so-ugly-she's-cute face was at odds with the heavy signature Shimada eyebrows. This tiny person, so helpless, so safe in his arms. And he already knew, he would protect her from anything. "Oh-ha-you!"

Yoko gurgled happily.

"Well. Good morning," Angela said, leaning over his shoulder and looking at the baby. "So. Yoko Shimada."

Genji didn't reply in favor of lifting Yoko up to his face, rubbing his scarred nose on her tiny, smooth forehead and gurgling back. "Ohayo, can you say that?"

Yoko blew a spit bubble, and his heart melted down to his knees.

Angela's laugh was soft in his ear. "Oh, Genji."

Genji turned around, smiling at Angela. "Look at her," he urged, cradling Yoko against his shoulder. "Yo-KO!" he sang, touching the baby's mochi-soft cheeks and button nose.

"Just look at you gush," Angela laughed. "Genji... You've always liked kids. You're going to be a good..."

He peered at her, waiting for her to continue.

"You're going to be such a great uncle," she said delightedly. "But how did you manage to wrestle her away from Hanzo?"

"Oh, she's his first child. I'll give him a chance to be a mother bear. But..." Genji grinned mischievously. "But Jesse has looser hands than Hanzo." He laughed along with Angela, Yoko burbling between them. Still reluctant to let her leave his arms, he nevertheless held Yoko out to Angela.

But Angela waved her hands. "I'll pass. I've held enough babies this month," she laughed. "No more."

Genji cradled Yoko in again, watching Angela's expression. Her blue eyes turned firm, and she smiled apologetically at Genji.

"You will be a great part of her life, as an uncle," she offered finally. "I think... That's nice." 

* * *

  
It had only taken an hour at the park to tire out all of Yoko's six-year-old energy for a nap. For that, he was thankful- he may have been mostly machine, but middle age was catching up to his wife. For all her regenerative skills, Angela was not immune to time.

"My God," Angela sighed, pulling her camel cardigan closer over her shoulders and settling down on the couch next to Genji. "She wears me out!"

"Sorry, uncle duties are calling," Genji laughed as he set Yoko down in the guest bedroom comforter. As she curled around her pillow and closed her eyes, he and Angela tiptoed out the door and back into the sun room.

His brother and Jesse were on their way to the hospital, ready to welcome their second child into the world. It made him unsteady, made him long for more than supervising Yoko at the beach, her occasional visits, or watching from across the room as Hanzo taught her to walk, sing, draw, how she clung to Hanzo's legs and tripped him when she was scared of strangers, the way she sat on Jesse's lap and watched the Fourth of July fireworks.

"I enjoy taking care of Yoko," he said hesitantly.

Angela was silent for an uncharacteristically long time. "You've always liked kids," she said.

"Yes," he said.

"You'd make a great father, too."

Genji was silent, but it was all the confirmation Angela needed.

"Genji... It hasn't changed," she said quietly. "You know how I feel about this. I want to make you happy, but... It wouldn't be fair to anyone."

"Angela..."

"I haven't changed my mind."

The finality burned in. He'd known- he'd always known, of course, but it didn't make the blow any softer. Heart aching with longing, Genji sighed and looked down, the now-familiar emptiness gnawing away at him. But he looked at her form by the glass panes, the afternoon sun on her soft, blonde locks, over a face he knew so well, all this time. He'd always known, hadn't he? And over the years, he'd known this, and he'd already made his choice, time and time again.

He took her hand gently and gave it a soft squeeze. "Me neither," he reassured her. "Me neither."

**Author's Note:**

> -Genji's "Me neither" is both a reference to the fact that he has never changed his mind about loving Angela and being her partner, as well as his continued longing for kids.  
> -Why doesn't Angela want kids? She just doesn't- it's a personal preference and choice.  
> -I left the mechanism of Yoko and her sister's birth up to the reader. You can go mpreg, surrogacy, or adoption, whatever you prefer.


End file.
